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Lord Saville said former soldiers gave evidence to his £200m inquiry, which concluded in 2010, under assurance from the director of public prosecutions that any submissions would not be used in a subsequent trial.

But the seventeen surviving former soldiers, the oldest of whom is now 77, may be charged tomorrow with offences including murder, attempted murder, grievous bodily harm and perjury.

If found guilty of murder, they face life in jail.

Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, terrorists subsequently convicted of atrocities committed during the Troubles can be jailed only for a maximum of two years.

On the eve of tomorrow's announcement in Londonderry, the BBC asked Lord Saville today whether he accepted that without his inquiry, the prospect of former soldiers being prosecuted may not have happened.

Police began the criminal probe in the wake of the 12-year, £200million inquiry led by Lord Saville, which concluded in 2010 that soldiers from the Parachute Regiment had 'lost control' during a civil rights march, causing the 'unjustified and unjustifiable' deaths of 14 civilians

Eighteen former paratroopers were under investigation, but one died last year

Lying on the ground is a man receiving attention, during the shooting incident in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, which became known as Bloody Sunday on January 30, 1972

British troops in Northern Ireland during the Troubles which began in the late 1960s and lasted until 1998 with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement

Former paratroopers fear that if charges are brought against Army veterans involved in Bloody Sunday shootings in Londonderry 1972 it will pave the way for another witch-hunt into troops over shootings five months earlier

High velocity bullets fired by the British Army on Bloody Sunday are on display at The Museum of Free Derry in Derry City's Bogside

Lord Saville said: 'I simply don't have the answer. The campaign by the families was for a new inquiry.

'Some thought that those soldiers who were found responsible should be prosecuted but overall the campaign for Bloody Sunday originally was for an inquiry to find out what happened and why, rather than a question of prosecutions.'

Former soldiers were granted anonymity and assured that submissions to the Saville Inquiry would not be used in any subsequent criminal proceedings.

'If we had not given those assurances, backed by the director of public prosecutions, people could quite legitimately have refused to answer questions on the grounds that answering might incriminate them.

The mural depicting those who lost their lives on Bloody Sunday in Rossville Street

Liam Wray, the brother of Bloody Sunday victim Jim Wray, by a mural depicting the late Bishop Edward Daly waving a white handkerchief as Jackie Duddy is carried away on Bloody Sunday

'So, we were there to find out what happened rather than investigating criminal offences. We sought assurance and gave it to those people, which is protected in law.'

When asked if he had believed the Savile Report would draw a line under Bloody Sunday, he said: 'I didn't know what was likely to happen. We hoped the inquiry would help the situation in Ireland and I think and hope it did to a degree.

'The question as to whether it draws a line under events or whether there should be prosecutions is not one for me, it's one for politicians and prosecuting authorities.

What is the timeline of peace in Northern Ireland?

Here is a timeline of events in the years before and after the Good Friday Agreement.

August 31 - The IRA announced a ceasefire with loyalist paramilitaries following suit.

1995

May 10 - First official meeting in 23 years between Sinn Fein and a British Government minister.

1997

May - Tony Blair gives a speech in Belfast, warning republicans: 'The settlement train is leaving. I want you on that train.'

July 20 - The IRA reinstates its ceasefire to enable Sinn Fein to take part in talks

1998

April 10 - The Good Friday Agreement is signed and is endorsed a month later in a referendum

2007

Sinn Fein endorses the police in Northern Ireland, and elections for Stormont are held

May 8 - The DUP's Rev Ian Paisley becomes First Minister and Sin Fein's Martin McGuinness is appointed Deputy First Minister

The pair's surprisingly warm relationship leads to them being referred to as the Chuckle Brothers.

2010

The Saville Report exonerates the civilians who were killed on Bloody Sunday leading to a formal apology from then Prime Minister David Cameron to the families.

2019

Prosecutors announce whether to brig charges against the 17 surviving Paras who fired shots that day. If found guilty the former soldiers, the oldest of whom is 77, could face life jail terms.

'If people want more and feel that justice can only be served by prosecutions against those that they believe to be responsible, then that is a matter again on which I can't really comment.'

'I think we did a pretty thorough job and I was satisfied we had done a fair job at finding out what happened that day as was realistically possible.'

The Savile Inquiry was the longest and most expensive public inquiry in British legal history.

It looked into the circumstances surrounding the massacre in Londonderry in which 13 people were shot dead when members of the Parachute Regiment opened fire on civilians on January 30, 1972.

The incident became one of the most infamous incidents in the history of The Troubles, with allegations that IRA instigators were among the crowd and that British gunfire was provoked.

Troops fired more than 100 bullets into the crowd, killing 13, and injuring 15. One of the injured died five months later, but the Saville Inquiry concluded he did not died as a result of wounds he sustained on Bloody Sunday.

The report exonerated the dead and injured. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) began a murder investigation in 2010 after the Saville Report said those who were killed or injured on Bloody Sunday were innocent.

Eighteen former paratroopers were reported to Northern Ireland's Public Prosecution Service over the killings, one of whom died last year.

Tomorrow prosecutors in Northern Ireland will meet with victims' families before making the long-awaited announcement on whether former soldiers will stand trial.

Several senior former Army commanders have viced deep concerns over possible prosecutions of men now in their 60s and 70s, who were not in positions of command on the day, after almost 50 years.

Ex-head of the Army Lord Dannatt has campaigned against a 'witch hunt' of Northern Ireland veterans, and last week Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said plans to introduce a ten-year limit on soldier prosecutions will 'sadly, not come in time' for Bloody Sunday veterans.

Claims that charges could impact future military operations have been made by Democratic Unionist MPs.

However members of Sinn Fein, the Ulster Unionist Party and the Social Democratic and Labour Party, have backed prosecutions for soldiers if there is evidence that they broke the law.

It comes as the families of those killed during Bloody Sunday restated their calls for prosecutions.

The families of those killed on Bloody Sunday are hopeful they will not have to pass their fight for justice onto the next generation, a campaigner has said.

John Kelly, whose brother Michael was gunned down aged just 17, said he and other relatives of those injured and shot dead are nervous and anxious on the eve of the decision as to whether the British soldiers involved will be prosecuted.

Tomorrow morning the families will gather outside The Museum of Free Derry, just yards from where the killings took place 47 years ago, and march together to a city centre hotel to hear whether charges will be brought.

Mr Kelly, 70, said: 'At the minute we're nervous, anxious, trying to anticipate or even think about what the outcome is going to be.

John McKinney, whose brother William was killed on Bloody Sunday, stands beside the Civil Rights mural in Derry City's Bogside. Army veterans will find out on Thursday whether they face charges over the infamous shootings

John Kelly whose brother 17 year old Michael was killed in Derry on Bloody Sunday standing beside the Civil Rights Bogside mural

'It's been a day that we've been waiting for, for many, many years and hopefully tomorrow we will see justice delivered.'

Mr Kelly said he hopes the decades-long journey to justice can finally come to an end with a decision by the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) to charge those involved.

He said: 'It's closure to the families, closure in every aspect of it because the thing that we don't want to do is see this being passed on to the next generation.

'I think after this length of time, the time is right now to bring it to an end and hopefully by the delivery by the PPS tomorrow we can look to a better future. I don't want to pass it on to my children, or my grandchildren and all the families feel exactly the same way.

'Hopefully, depending on what the PPS delivers tomorrow, we will be in a position where we can bring it to an end.'

Mickey McKinney, whose brother William was also killed aged 27, said while he is hopeful of a murder charge, even if that news does not come he will know he and the others have done their utmost for their loved ones.

A 1998 photograph of Lord Saville of Newdigate chairing the Bloody Sunday inquiry

The 67-year-old said: 'If we didn't get good news, I can still live with the fact that we've ruffled them [the soldiers and the establishment] a bit.

'If [a prosecution] doesn't happen, we'll take legal advice to see if there can be a challenge. If there's no challenge, if our solicitors tell us we can't do anything here, I can live with me. We've given this our all.'

Seventeen former members of support company of the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment are facing possible charges by the Public Prosecution Service on Thursday.

All 13 of those killed were declared innocent in 2010 following a lengthy public inquiry conducted by Lord Saville, after a years-long campaign by the families to right the wrongs of false claims that their loved ones had been armed.

Recalling his sibling, who was known as Willie, Mr McKinney said: 'Willie was my brother and he never took part in a riot, he never threw a stone.'

Of the soldiers, he said: 'How dare they take his life? They had no right to do that. They had no right to do what they did on Bloody Sunday.'

David Cameron, prime minister in 2010, issued a public apology to the families on behalf of the state for what happened.

However, Alan Barry, from the Justice for Northern Ireland Veterans campaign group, said he feared the paratroopers would face charges, accusing the justice system in Northern Ireland of being one-sided.

'I think the whole thing is appalling, that these soldiers could be prosecuted,' he said.

'This is a new line being drawn in the sand here. If they are prosecuted, what will be next?'

A decision is also due to be taken tomorrow by the PPS as to whether to charge two Official IRA suspects.